As Hillary Clinton can attest,some government investigations tend to drag on, and they create problems for their targets as long as they last. In late 2011, the targets of a lingering investigation by the Connecticut Insurance Department tried to lift the cloud over their business, by filing a declaratory judgment action in Superior Court. The trial court dismissed their suit, on the ground that the Department's proceedings had not yet run their course. But last ... Keep Reading »
Declaratory Judgment
A DJ is a Sometime Thing: In Declaratory Judgment Actions Over Coverage, the Sixth Circuit Gives Trial Courts a Wide Berth
The Declaratory Judgment Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2201, gives federal district courts "unique and substantial discretion" over whether to hear suits seeking a declaration of rights. Wilton v. Seven Falls Co., 515 U.S. 277, 286 (1995). To guide the exercise of that discretion, Courts of Appeals have created lists of relevant considerations—most of which were borrowed from Moore's Federal Practice. See Reifer v. Westport Ins. Co., 751 F.3d 129, 145 n.20 (3d Cir. 2014) ... Keep Reading »
New York District Court Rejects Excess Carrier’s Attempt to Stack Primary Limits in Continuous Exposure Case
Cases involving continuous exposure present unique challenges. Determining when the alleged injury occurred is critical in evaluating causation, damages, and statute of limitations defenses. The date and nature of the alleged occurrence is also often determinative of coverage. And as a recent decision from the Northern District of New York reminds us, the question is not only whether there is coverage in the first instance, but also which carrier has to pay. The ... Keep Reading »
Carhops and Cash Deposit Bags: Insurer Skates From the “Dual Purpose” Doctrine
For many, Sonic Drive-In restaurants stir thoughts of juicy burgers, neon-blue sodas, ‘50s rock ‘n’ roll, and roller-skating carhops. Recently, however, in Hudson Specialty Insurance Company v. Brash Tygr, LLC, Nos. 13-1688, 13-1742 (8th Cir. Oct. 7, 2014), the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals served up an opinion in a commercial insurance coverage dispute with a little less flavor and fanfare, in analyzing the proper application of the "dual purpose" doctrine in the ... Keep Reading »
Partial Recall: Product Contamination Coverage Has Its Limits
In disputes over the scope of liability coverage, courts must often draw a line between (1) providing insurance against errors that harm others and (2) broadly guaranteeing the work product of the insured. The problem is most obvious in construction cases, when claims against the insureds arise from their own faulty workmanship. Recently, it has also emerged in connection with the food and drug industries. Last month, in Hot Stuff Foods, LLC v. Houston Casualty Co. ... Keep Reading »
Apartment Complexity: Appellate Court Sorts Out Multiple Coverage Claims for Construction of Uninhabitable Residence
In QBE Ins. Corp. v. Adjo Contracting Corp. (N.Y. App. Div. 2d Dep't Oct. 29, 2014), an intermediate appellate court in New York confronted cross-appeals involving 15 different insurers embroiled in multiple lawsuits, including consolidated class actions. The core issue of the case was whether the insurers for a variety of subcontractors were obligated to provide a defense to tenants' lawsuits against the developer and general contractor of a doomed residential ... Keep Reading »
Cut! Eighth Circuit Excludes Non-Board Member from CGL Coverage for “Directors”
Directors and Officers liability policies are typically precise in defining the job descriptions of the individuals to whom they offer coverage. Recently, in United Fire & Cas. Ins. Co. v. Thompson, No. 13-2352 (8th Cir. July 11, 2014), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit had to decide whether the term "director," which was left undefined in a corporation's Commercial General Liability policy, could apply to a supervisory employee, whom one party ... Keep Reading »
Get Exhausted! The Tenth Circuit Schools an Excess Insurer on How to Preserve Subrogation Claims in a Settlement
When I die, I want to be exhausted. –Bryan Cranston Claims against insured businesses sometimes implicate multiple liability policies issued by several different carriers, and it is sometimes prudent for some of those carriers to settle the underlying action, even if others are unwilling to contribute to the settlement. At that point, it is important for the settling insurer carefully to analyze the relevant coverage terms, before the structure of the settlement has ... Keep Reading »
You’re Not on the List: Failure to Name Names Knocks Lloyd’s Out of Federal Court
It is impossible today to imagine a world without insurance. Individuals can't buy houses or cars without insuring them against loss. Businesses cannot operate without any number of coverages—against damage to their property and equipment, against interruptions to their operations and against liability to employees, customers and the world at large. But ‘twas not ever thus. Recently, in a dispute over whether a group of Lloyd's underwriters could establish diversity ... Keep Reading »
Drive, He Said: When “Yes” Means “Don’t Shoot!”
Bad things can happen to innocent people, and sometimes the people responsible for them are judgment-proof. When that happens—and when the perpetrator also has potential coverage under an automobile or homeowners policy—victims sometimes view the circumstances of their injury more generously; they describe them with words like "careless" and "negligent" in place of harsh, judgmental terms, such as "intentional" or "criminal." Something of this sort seems to have been ... Keep Reading »
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- Next Page »